Construction of colloidal crystals with simple cubic lattice by precisely designed polymer-brush-decorated hybrid particles

2023 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 21H02000
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (B)
• Allocation Type: Single-year Grants
• Section: 一般
• Review Section: Basic Section 35020:Polymer materials-related
• Research Institution: Osaka Metropolitan University (2022-2023); Osaka Prefecture University (2021)
• Principal Investigator: Kohji Ohno 大阪公立大学, 大学院工学研究科, 教授 (00335217)
• Project Period (FY): 2021-04-01 – 2024-03-31
• Keywords: 微粒子 / ポリマーブラシ / コロイド / 結晶 / 表面・界面

Outline of Final Research Achievements

The purpose of this study is to precisely synthesize hybrid particles grafted with charged polymer brushes, to systematically study their dispersibility and alignment behavior, and to construct novel colloidal crystal systems that have interdisciplinary and practical value. Specifically, we found that cationic polymer brush-decorated hybrid particles form soft colloidal crystals with extremely large interparticle distances in low-polarity solvents. The structure of this crystalline system varied with the number of charges on the graft chains and salt concentration. We also found that by mixing hybrid particles grafted with polymer brushes having cations and anions, respectively, CsCl-type colloidal crystals were formed in which they were arranged alternately. Furthermore, we succeeded in directly observing the process from nucleation to crystal growth of these crystals.

Free Research Field

高分子化学

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

有機溶媒中における荷電コロイド粒子の配列制御に関する研究は、微粒子の表面構造・化学組成の重要性が認識されているにも関わらず、それらを積極的に制御されてこなかった。本研究では、独自のポリマーブラシ付与微粒子の合成技術を活かして、様々な構造パラメータを有する複合微粒子を設計し、それらの低極性溶媒中における分散挙動を系統的に評価し理解することで、ミクロンオーダーの粒子間距離を有するコロイド結晶や二成分系コロイド結晶を構築する技術を開発できたことは意義深い。コロイド結晶は学術的に幅広い分野で研究されていることに加え、その応用も多岐に亘ることを考慮すれば、本研究の知見が多方面で活用されると期待できる。